Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Category: Easter Season

  • Shake Well Before Using

    Shake Well Before Using

    April 9, 2023 – Easter Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040923.cfm)

    What is the purpose of life? What is life all about? Why do we have to suffer through life? How can we move on with life? Where is God in all these?

    During pandemic times & even now in the New Normal period, I have been confronted with these questions from people, especially young people, who are looking and searching for meaning and directions in life. To be honest, I too had raised these questions and have grappled with finding answers. Not without difficulty however I somehow discover an answer that makes sense and suits me. I found it from a book called The Gospel according to Peanuts by Robert Short that was based on Peanuts comic strips with characters like Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and others, created by cartoonists Charles Schulz. In one of its comic strips, it simply says: We are like a bottle of medicine where God puts a label on it to make sure: “Shake Well Before Using”.

    If we really come to think of it, such simple line says a lot about these questions in life.

    Yes, indeed we are like a bottle of medicine. On our own and for our own sake, we are no one… we are nothing. But with others and for the sake of others, we are someone…we are something. And to be and remain something effective and someone important in life, we have to go through a lot of shaking and moving. Even we like it or not, we need to be shaken and disturbed once in a while,… or else we remain nothing and worthless. So to make sure our value and sense in life, God has to shake us, not for the sake of shaking itself, nor only for our own sake, but for the sake of Him and others – that we may be a medicine to others and each other. The spiritual guru Henry Nouwen calls this “wounded healers”, in which, with and through our wounds and woundedness we also become healers & medicine of others and for others.

    If we also come to think of it, being shaken well by God has always been part of the story of our faith and life.

    Last night’s review of our salvation of history in the scriptures reminds us that shaking and to be shaken well has always been part of our growth in faith and life. Ever since the creation of the universe from chaos to order, the rescue of Israelites from the power of Egypt, the building of Israel as nation, the establishment of covenant with Israel, the empty tomb and the resurrection of the Lord, and our baptism now and again in Christ, we are continually been moved and shaken by God well, not for our own sake but for the sake of Him and others. The symbol of Fire and Water, the reading of scriptures and the celebration of Eucharist in our liturgy last night are witness to the whole passage of shaking we go through in life for us to have meaning, direction and worth in life.

    Today we proclaim Jesus has risen, Alleluia. We Christians remember, celebrate, and believe that Jesus has risen indeed in our lives. We can even dare to proclaim that He has risen Again and Anew in our life today. Again, because in almost every year of our Christian faith and life, we celebrate His resurrection.

    But he has also risen Anew with us now, because our encounter of His resurrection will never be the same as before. Yes, Jesus always resurrects in us, and He reveals to us as uniquely as before. Nabanhaw siya kanunay kanato apan lahi ra sama kaniadto. He is still Jesus, but He is now Christ, the risen Lord.

    Every Easter seasons, we may say then, are God’s time of year of shaking us before using. Just as the women & the disciples found an empty tomb and met the Lord on their way back, and the way we struggle & cope with the trying times of Covid-19 pandemic these recent past years, during this years’ Easter season, same as ever, there will be more shaking going on, and more to happen in our Christian faith and life.

    Let us not forget then whatever happens and how the shaking ever happens, all of these will not be on our own and for our own sake but with and for the sake of Him and others. Remember, We are part of His great plan of scheme. Let us be open and allow ourselves to be shaken, to be moved, to be disturbed again and anew, for in this way, we participate in His work of salvation in our lives. If and when however we get lost along the way and find life meaningless and without direction, perhaps we may be consoled by Charles Schulz words: We are like a bottle of medicine where, God puts a label on it to make sure: “Shake Well Before Using.”

    Happy Easter to All. At Abangan ang susunod na kabanata.

  • A Defiant Hope

    A Defiant Hope

    April 9, 2023 – The Resurrection of the Lord

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040923.cfm)

    In the popular Netflix Series, The Sandman, an episode portrays how the Lord of Endless Dreams (Morpheus) went to Hell to retrieve his tools. In Hell, Morpheus faced Lucifer in the duel through the “Oldest Game” where each one has a turn to use a concept from their imagination to defeat the other. As each one used a concept, Lucifer at the end, used Anti-Life. In this, Morpheus was down and weak. He was asked by Lucifer, “What can survive the anti-life?” Yet, slowly, Morpheus tried to speak, until he was able to utter, “I AM HOPE.” With hope, Lucifer was defeated for nothing kills hope.

    On this Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus, we are reminded of HOPE. However, we as Christians now, do we really believe in the resurrection?

    Well, on that Sunday morning, as the Gospel of John told us, when the women wanted to visit the tomb of the dead Jesus, his body was nowhere to be found. They believed that the body was stolen. However, the other disciples whom Jesus loved, when he saw the cloth that covered the head of Jesus was rolled up in a separate place, HE SAW AND BELIEVED! The Lord indeed, rose from the dead!

    Jesus’ resurrection sums up everything in the Sacred Scriptures. The resurrection of Jesus is the very essence why the Church continues to live until today. If not because of the resurrection, there is nothing to believe, nothing to hope for. Hence, the resurrection of Jesus is the “DEFIANT HOPE, a hope, hoping against hope.”

    With all those suffering and gruesome death of Jesus, the disciples ran away, hid and believed that that was the end, and there was nothing more. However, the Lord is more powerful than death, more powerful than our frustration and disappointments, or of our failures, more powerful than human sin, more powerful than human violence and greed.

    God’s commitment to us and his love for you and me is so great that it makes the dead back to life, to the glory of resurrection, to new life, to a blessed and joyful life.

    Thus, friends, remember too, if you find yourself at the brink of giving up, or at the edge of losing your desire to live and to dream, or when you are at the end of hopelessness and despair, God will never let go of us. God will never surrender on us. Remember that! Believe in that!

    Jesus went through all those suffering and even the loneliness on the cross, because Jesus believed that there is more in you and in me, in each of us, and that there is more in our broken and wounded world caused by human sin of greed and indifference. We may also consider ourselves as terrible sinners, or others may condemn and think that we are hopeless and worthless, but the Lord will always see hope in us. God sees a joyful and blessed life in each of us, in all of us, as a community.

    Thus, the power of the resurrection tells us now of the Church’s mission and commitment to life and to freedom. The Church, and that is US, is a believing community who is being moved, touched and taught by the Lord.

    As the Lord dwells in each of us and in our community, we are now called to become EASTER PEOPLE or PEOPLE OF THE RESURRECTION. This means that what we preach and what we live is the joy and hope that the resurrection brings. But, remember too, that to be become a people of the resurrection, we also become a contradiction to those who want to act like God and become like God and those who are anti-life, like Lucifer. Just as Jesus was a threat to them, we too shall be. Yet, the glory of the resurrection will bring us into hope and joy which can be experienced not just after our death but can be tasted, felt and lived even today.

    How would that be possible? By becoming the presence of Jesus today to people around us through our very life that gives and expresses hope for others. Kabay pa.

  • RE-LIVE AND RE-EXPERIENCE THE FIRST PENTECOST

    RE-LIVE AND RE-EXPERIENCE THE FIRST PENTECOST

    June 5, 2022 – Pentecost Sunday 

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060522-day.cfm)

    What keeps us from truly expressing ourselves? What prevents us from sharing ourselves to others? What stops us from being truly free? Fear of being not accepted, of being rejected and thus, of being hurt prevents us from being free, from sharing and opening up ourselves to and for others.

    This is how our traumatic and painful experiences of abuse in whatever form that is, or of betrayal, of failures, shame and guilt, or of separation and death – could paralyze our relationships, damage our self-esteem and hamper our maturity in all aspects of life.

    However, God desires that we become fully human according to God’s image, and that is by being truly free and having developed our full potentials as persons in all aspect of our life.

    Today, as we celebrate the Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit into the Church, we are being reminded today of this desire of God for us to have peace, to be free, to be filled with all the good things that God offers us as individuals and as a Church.

    So, allow me now to bring you a bit deeper into our readings today that we may also be able to see and claim what God has prepared for us today, on this Pentecost Sunday.

    The Gospel that has been proclaimed to us today would tell us about the terrified situation of the disciples. The disciples were in hiding. They were terrified and so they locked themselves because of so much fear. They did not want to go out anymore, to socialize with their other friends and relatives or to continue preaching about the kingdom of God and healing people’s illnesses. They were rather filled with fear.

    This tells us that fear can actually paralyze us. Fear can prevent us in making movements and in making decisions. Consequently, when we become fearful we also settle to what is only minimal and comfortable for us, then, this makes us complacent. We wont take risks because we are afraid of rejection and failure or of the possibility of another pain and hurts.

    But then, such attitude could also make us controlling and demanding in our relationships to the point that we direct others on how they should treat us, or accommodate us and love us according to how we want it. We do not think of others then, because we do not want any compromise. We only think of ourselves, locked in those painful past but terrified of the present. This was how the terrified disciples kept themselves in a locked room. It was a paralysis to love and be loved, to forgive and be forgiven.

    This is the very reason why Jesus appeared in the midst of his fearful disciples. Jesus wants them to get out from the attitude of fear. Jesus penetrated those fearful and closed hearts of the disciples and gave them PEACE. And that peace filled their hearts with the Holy Spirit. With that, it completely changed all of them.

    The Holy Spirit indeed calmed and gave confidence to their terrified hearts, healed their wounded hearts, forgave their hearts that were found guilty, freed their imprisoned and locked hearts, and filled their hearts longing for love.

    In fact, in the Acts of the Apostles, it was proclaimed to us how the Holy Spirit changed the disciples. That is why, aside from the noise that sounded like a violent wind and the tongues of fire that rested on each of them, there was a more interesting expression of the Spirit that happened there. The disciples of the Lord who were mostly Galileans proclaimed the goodness and power of God. Though they spoke in their own native language yet strangers and foreigners understood what the disciples were proclaiming about.

    Yes, foreign peoples grasped what the disciples of Jesus had proclaimed because at that moment, they became confident and unafraid. They were able to get out from their fears of being persecuted, from their doubts about Jesus and from their insecurities of the coming days. They realized how good God is. They truly believed that “Jesus is Lord.”

    All of these realizations were fruits of their journey with Jesus. With the Holy Spirit, the disciples found peace in their hearts, meaning, these fearful and doubtful disciples had at last found and recognized God in their life, in their human experiences. This is how the Holy Spirit creates and renews us, as the Psalm proclaims to us today. As we are being renewed by the Spirit then we shall begin to see and recognize God’s indwelling presence in everyone and in everything, and in every circumstance of our life.

    Jesus said, “Peace be with you!” which also means, “I am with you!” because Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The Lord who is with his disciples sends them now. And so, they have become witnesses of Jesus – witnesses who convey God’s offer of salvation and love not just to a particular group of people but to all, to Jews and Greeks, to rich and poor, to you and to me.

    This is also how the foreigners understood the disciples of the Lord and in effect were converted to believe in Jesus. Thus, a church was born, a church that is not fearful of persecutions and a church that joyfully sings God’s goodness and love.

    What is it to you and to me now, as a church gathered here today?Our birthday celebration today is not meant to be a mere remembering of the distant past. This feast of the Pentecost calls us rather to relive and to re-experience the first Pentecost – and that is to experience again that confidence with God, being secured by his love, by being courageous and honest enough to share the kindness of God and his love to others.Because you and I, have already received the Holy Spirit.

    We may be constantly aware, then, of the Holy Spirit in all of our human experiences and relationships. In that way, we may be renewed by the Spirit who is ready to free a heart locked in fear and insecurities, ready to calm and give confidence to our terrified heart, ready to heal our wounded heart, ready to forgive our heart that has been found guilty, and ready to fill a heart longing for love. Kabay pa.

  • Being In-SPIRIT

    Being In-SPIRIT

    June 5, 2022 – Pentecost Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060522-day.cfm)

    Perhaps you have had experiences of a moment when you were so caught up with the wonders of the moment that inspired you to say how great it is, in your own language. And then, a foreigner caught up with the same experience of the moment, utter words of how great it is… and also in your own native language.

    Like once, my Pilipino friend and I were walking sight-seeing in a street of Brussels, Belgium. We caught sight of a beautiful painting being done in the plaza. In our amazement, we both loudly utter words: Ang Ganda, ano. “Ohh, Such a beauty”. And then a Belgian guy also in wonder say: “Oo nga, napakaganda” (Oh Yes, Beautiful).  All of us (Pinoy and Belgian) where not only caught up with the beauty of the painting, but also with the beauty of the moment where we can communicate and understand each other our appreciation of the experience.

    Perhaps the same experience could be said about a French man who tries to eat Batchoy inside a restaurant amidst Filipinos, and tasting it, said: “Namit Gid”. All present understand how great the batchoy is, that even a foreigner is able to appreciate its taste in our own language and native tongue. In other words, Napa-Ilonggo/Hiligaynon sa Sarap. O Napa-Tagalog sa Ganda.

    Our shared experiences of wonders and mutual understanding among diverse cultures somehow describes us the experiences of the disciples and the faithful of Pentecost.

    Church tradition has it that fifty days after His resurrection (ten days after His ascension), on the day of Pentecost, the disciples received the promised gift of Holy Spirit to the church, and inspired them to speak in different languages to proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, people from different cultures then and until now are able to speak, hear and understand each other’s faith in their own native tongues. Because of such experience, today marks the birthday of the Church – the day of birth, the day when the church becomes alive. The gift of the Holy Spirit is thus very essential in the life of the Church. Like a soul to a body, the church is dead without the movements of the spirit, as well as the spirit cannot inspire our faith-life without the church. We, the church needs the Holy Spirit to live, as well as the Holy Spirit needs our Church to offer us salvation, meaning and direction in life. For how does the Holy Spirit may work in our lives?

    First, the Holy Spirit makes us experience and witness the present moment. Like being caught up with the beauty of a painting or scenery, with the delicious taste of food, with the wonders of the building, cooking, or working processes, with the intensity of a good book read, a good drama play or movie, and like the risen Lord made Himself known to his disciples, the Holy Spirit inspires us to situate and appreciate ourselves in the present experience. In other words, the Holy Spirit offers us PRESENCE in the here and now.

    Second, the Holy Spirit compels us to share our inspiration of the present moment with others. Our inspiration then is not ours to keep but to be shared with others. Like falling and being in love, the Holy Spirit moves us to proclaim and communicate our life and inspiration with others in a way that we can understand each other. In other words, the Holy Spirit provides us the LANGUAGE to express and communicate our inspiration of the present moment.

    And lastly, the Holy Spirit makes us respond rightly and accordingly to the inspiration-given and shared. Like Jesus giving us the mandate and mission to witness and proclaim our faith to all nations, the Holy Spirit encourages us to lead our lives according to our faith-life inspirations. In other words, the Holy Spirit obliges us a LIFESTYLE – a way of being and becoming human in life.

    Like, as Love is one of its gift, the Holy Spirit inspires us to love and be loved, to express humanly such love with “an-other” and others, as well as to live our lives as loving and beloved person. In the same way with Faithfulness, the Holy Spirit inspires us to have faith and trust in the risen Lord in life, to express, proclaim, and share our faith with others (regardless of culture and race), and to practice and live out such faith in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit thus concretely offers us PRESENCE – LANGUAGE – LIFESTYLE of Love and Faith in life. That is how essential Holy Spirit is into our daily lives as Christian and as Church.

    We can only receive what is being offered. We can only share what we already have. It will be given to us whenever we allow and invite the Holy Spirit into our very lives now. We welcome then the Holy Spirit into our lives now so that others may feel its presence, relate with its language, & live its lifestyle in our new-normal world today.  As we celebrate the birthday of the Church, we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives as we pray: “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the Earth.” Amen. 

  • GOD DOES SO MANY WONDERS WITH US

    GOD DOES SO MANY WONDERS WITH US

    June 4, 2022 – Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060422.cfm)

    There would be times in our life that we cannot help but compare negatively ourselves with others. We begin to see more defects, more failings, more pain and more insecurities in our life especially when we are also going through something and when life gets rough for us. That helplessness must have come from our desire to understand our situation and to cope up with the struggle we are going through.

    Thus, we compare our insecurities against the fortunes and blessings of others to justify our situation. This must be our way of coping. Yet, we also know that it does not help us see beyond and move forward. The more we compare ourselves with others, the lesser we see ourselves and belittle our worth. This only brings us into a dead end.

    This is how our relationships and understanding of oneself affect us when we grow in this kind of perspective and attitude. It can be a plague not just among young people but even among professionals, siblings, neighbors and colleagues. The bitterness of comparison and insecurities can poison our relationship with one another.

    However, it is always God’s desire that we discover our full potentials, develop more our capacities and grow maturely in our relationships and become life-giving. This is what Jesus wanted for Peter to realize also.

    In today’s Gospel, Peter expressed his anxiety to Jesus over the beloved disciple. Peter was anxious and perhaps also curious on what would happen to the beloved disciple. Peter asked, “Lord, what about him?” He must have other questions in mind like, “What are your plans for him? Do you have something in mind for him aside from me?” That anxiety of Peter must have come from jealousy because of the fact that the disciple was called “beloved,” meaning, the favorite of Jesus. This was how also word (gossip) spread among the brothers that the beloved disciple would not die.

    Yet, Jesus said, “What concern is it of yours?” Jesus wanted Peter to recognize his potentials, to fully embrace what he was capable of, and to respond generously to Jesus’ call for him and not be distracted by what others have. Jesus wanted Peter to trust him completely because Jesus shall work many wonders with Peter and in each one of them according to their talents and personalities.

    In fact, the Gospel told us today, “there are so many things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” This, indeed, is a statement how the Lord worked wonders with Peter and in each of the disciples.

    In each of us too, Jesus works many wonders with us if we would allow him to. Hence, these are God’s invitation for us today.

    First, when we begin the cycle of comparing ourselves from others, catch that mentality and attitude then begin to shift our perspective. Let us begin recognizing our own worth, reclaiming our potentials and talents. This will surely help us to become confident with ourselves by becoming more grateful.

    Second, to trust fully the Lord. Trusting the Lord does not mean that we will not be able to feel frustrated and disappointed anymore. The Lord may bring or call us to situations that we personally do not want. The Lord may work wonders with us in the way we do not expect it to be that way. Thus, trusting fully the Lord is allowing ourselves to become confident with ourselves and confident in God’s presence doing many wonders with us and through us. Kabay pa.